NCAA Womens Title Game Will Move to 3 p.m. ET Start on ABC (merged thread)

[TCC Kid]

According to the Athletic:

"The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Game will air on ABC, The Athletic has learned, on Sunday, April 2, at 3 p.m. ET from American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Final Four semifinal matchups will air on ESPN at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on March 31. ESPN says it is committed to placing the title game on ABC in 2023 and 2024.

“We’re committed to 2023 and 2024, which are the only two tournaments we have left under contract with the NCAA,” said ESPN president of programming and original content Burke Magnus, who has been pushing for this change. “Under the presumption, and we certainly hope that’s the case that we do renew and extend a deal that includes the women’s tournament, we would continue to do this as a matter of course.”

"The 2023 women’s basketball tournament will be unique in that the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds which will be played using a two-host format with eight teams competing in Greenville, S.C., and eight teams playing in Seattle. (The championship will follow this two-site regional format through 2027.) That should increase in-arena attendance and also makes it easier for television schedulers. ESPN first aired the tournament on ABC in 2021, with two first-round matchups and four Sweet 16 games available on the broadcast network."

Hey, Cousin: I like this. I'll be at the Greenville 16/elite 8 games. You know Uconn shall be there.

 

[jchusky]

so if Stanford is in the title game that means that it will start at 12pm pacific, is that really a good thing?

 

[socal613ws]

so a 3pm est game is better than an 8pm est game? How is this better? People act like the game is on a channel nobody has, the Cfb playoff is not on abc it's on espn, I never hear any complaints about that?

 

[Dillon77]

Hey, Cousin: I like this. I'll be at the Greenville 16/elite 8 games. You know Uconn shall be there.

Good to hear. I'd like to think ND will be in one of Elite 8 games, as well, but if I can't be optimistic in late August, when can I be?

 

[donalddoowop]

My wife’s birthday. I won’t be watching it live. Planning to go to Italy.

You need to take a look at your priorities.

 

[Zinethar]

It is finally on a national network at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday and people are mad??? Damn you guys are hard to please! That time slot was great for the NFL and not you?

 

[Mdoggie]

It is finally on a national network at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday and people are mad??? Damn you guys are hard to please! That time slot was great for the NFL and not you?

Old age.

 

[Beemer]

Nope. The NCAA (after much embarassment & prodding, the usual way they do things) made the decision to treat the women's tournament the same as the men's in terms of facilities, etc. I see no reason why the NCAA should allow Disney to move the women's championship game out of prime time to a lesser time slot. You know damn well they'd never allow it to happen to the men's tournament.

 

[CL82]

I was being sarcastic, but Palm Sunday is historically the longest mass of the year, and it's kind of a running joke in our house.

I was raised Catholic and my wife was raised Presbyterian. When we first moved to our former town almost 25 years ago, we surveyed the local churches to see which one we should join. The Catholic church was most familiar to me, and also closest to our house, so we started with that one. Unfortunately it was Palm Sunday and mass was like 90 minutes. As we walked out my wife said that one was off the list because she couldn't sit through mass that long.

We went to the Episcopalian church next and there were like eight other people there, six of whom looked to be in their 80s or older; that was off the list because we were looking for a family-centered place.

Next up was the Congregational church, which is where we ended up joining. It was a very good choice for us, and also loaded with former Catholics.

I guess they figured it was as good place to congregate as any other.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It is finally on a national network at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday and people are mad??? Damn you guys are hard to please! That time slot was great for the NFL and not you?

Yeah no kidding. I don't mind the time slot at all. Much better than a game that starts at 8 or 9. Afternoon games are better for the team anyway.

 

[bballnut90]

Us west coasters will still be in bed fighting off a hangover that early on a Sunday

 

[LoboDays]

Whether we like the afternoon time or not, the football NC and the Mens’s BB championship are Prime Time events. And, it doesn’t matter who the teams are. They get the ratings. WCB is growing but not there yet. They need to get high viewership even if it’s teams other than SC & UCONN to get to the next plateau.

 

[Blueconn]

Why relegate it to the afternoon??? We're talking the Division 1 NCAA women's basketball championship here. If the NCAA is finally seeing to it that the women's tournament is treated equally to the men's why does the network get to get away not doing that???

What bull excrement.

You nailed it. Classic corporate doublespeak.

 

[Zinethar]

I personally think all these "prime time" games hurt sports. Not from us who are already fans but for the sports future as the young kids who would be their future players and viewers often can't watch them (at least on the east coast) due to bedtime restrictions on school nights. These games are shown at night because the advertisers want eyeballs on the games from their age group demographic and the good of the kids is not a consideration.

 

[triaddukefan]

I love it. Wish more wbb games were on CBS and ABC. Think of it this way. Game starts at 3.. Game is over at 5..and you still have time to catch the early bird special at ur favorite restaurant.

 

[socal613ws]

I love it. Wish more wbb games were on CBS and ABC. Think of it this way. Game starts at 3.. Game is over at 5..and you still have time to catch the early bird special at ur favorite restaurant.

Some of us it starts at 12

 

[baggerbob]

I love it. Wish more wbb games were on CBS and ABC. Think of it this way. Game starts at 3.. Game is over at 5..and you still have time to catch the early bird special at ur favorite restaurant.

Don't watch any evening shows on ABC, NBC, or CBS and haven't for years. With all the different services and channels, there is always something better on.

 

[WFFL]

Why?
Why wasn't it moved to ABC all along considering that ABC & ESPN are under the same network umbrella?

So the power's that be could continue to pay them less and use the claim that the ratings are not good or no one watches women's basketball . Pretty much a low ball situation is my best guess.

 

[WFFL]

If we have as good of a game as we hope, then people will watch. It's really as simple as that. If people watch then maybe the time will change next year. There's a reason it was switched to ABC and it was because the numbers were there.

National audience versus a global audience is always a major difference . Helps the game grow and show their is interest in our game !!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I love it. Wish more wbb games were on CBS and ABC. Think of it this way. Game starts at 3.. Game is over at 5..and you still have time to catch the early bird special at ur favorite restaurant.

Basketball and food! Sounds like heaven for Triad!

 

[Carnac]

All of the comments here make for interesting reading. I really don’t care what channel the game is on or what time. My only concern is that if UConn is playing in that game, I can watch it and they win.

 

[CocoHusky]

All of the comments here make for interesting reading. I really don’t care what channel the game is on or what time. My only concern is that if UConn is playing in that game, I can watch it and they win.

 

[boontonbomber]

Finally, won't fall asleep during halftime.

 

[MSGRET]

Us west coasters will still be in bed fighting off a hangover that early on a Sunday

I resemble that remark!!

 

[hoopsfan22]

Some of us it starts at 12

West coast is an after thought since it's a little light on population.